Military SF, anybody?

Imagine a world plagued by war and a global pandemic, then throw in a climate crisis that threatens to destroy Earth's crops, leading to mass starvation and more war. The only thing missing is a financial crisis, and all of this is beginning to sound eerily familiar, isn't it? Well, not quite - at least not in the hands of John Ringo, 82nd Airborne alumnus and author of The Last Centurion.

The book's narrator, known only as Bandit Six, tells the story of what happens when the world starts to fall apart in the very near future. As the real action begins, he and his platoon find themselves in the Middle East, deep in enemy territory, and they've got to find a way out, back to what's left of the United States. But before that happens, we get a primer from Bandit Six on current events. He has nothing good to say about most of the people in charge, from the President on down to the battalion commander - and the annoying thing is, most of the time, he's right. A fortuitous combination of education and experience has placed him in the right place at just the right time; like Obi-Wan Kenobi, Bandit Six is our only hope.

Sure, the book's riddled with cliches, and it's one of the most politically incorrect novels I've read in a while, and most of the characters are one- or two-dimensional at most, and following Army jargon can be confusing to the uninitiated, but the conversational tone of the writing and Ringo's innate storytelling abilities make up for some of these potential flaws. It's easy to picture Bandit Six eased back in his desk chair, feet propped up on a battered government-issue metal desk, with a cup of too-strong coffee in his hand, spinning yarns about his exploits in the desert and explaining how he saved the world almost single-handed.

Ringo isn't shy about using Bandit Six as a mouthpiece for his opinions on climate change, the green movement, current political figures, and other sacred cows. If you've got a high tolerance for polemic in your fiction, and you enjoy a rousing - if highly improbable - story about a group of warriors who embody the motto "Adapt, improvise, and overcome," you may enjoy reading The Last Centurion.

--Nora